


What You Waiting For?

by lululawrence



Category: BBC Radio 1 RPF, One Direction (Band)
Genre: Acquaintances to Lovers, Age Difference, Alternate Universe, Awkward Flirting, Drama Queen Nick, Flirting, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Harry in Panties, Humor, M/M, Mutual Pining, No Smut, One Shot, Pining, but that's just canon, kind of, more like, oh that's a tag how fun, that needs to be an actual tag
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-04
Updated: 2020-11-04
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:13:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,020
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27316816
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lululawrence/pseuds/lululawrence
Summary: “I’m only here to establish an alibi.”Harry closed the door behind Grimmy, who had already rushed in and headed to the kitchen.“Make yourself at home?” Harry offered, kind of. More like questioned. What did he know? It was half eleven on a Friday after a long week of work and his flatmate’s best friend randomly barged in talking about alibis.
Relationships: Nick Grimshaw/Harry Styles
Comments: 4
Kudos: 27
Collections: Week Sixty-One





	What You Waiting For?

**Author's Note:**

  * For [disgruntledkittenface](https://archiveofourown.org/users/disgruntledkittenface/gifts).



> Maggie! It's your birthday! Well, it will be very soon. I didn't want to post this AFTER your birthday, so here it is a bit early. I love you and hope you enjoy this little Gryles gift! I had loads of fun writing it, so maybe it'll make you smile :D 
> 
> This fic was also written as part of an ongoing challenge using the book 1000 Feelings For Which There Are No Names for our prompts. To read the other fics written in this challenge, [click here](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/ShortFic_Challenge_For_Which_There_Is_No_Name/works). You can find more information on the challenge here and to reblog the masterpost on tumblr, you can [click here](http://lululawrence.tumblr.com/post/159679804243/1000-feelings-for-which-there-are-no-names-prompt).
> 
> My prompt was 250: The awkwardness of being a football hater invited to watch football.
> 
> Thank you to my beta [Nic](https://louandhazaf.tumblr.com) and Brit pick [Rebecca](https://runaway-train-works.tumblr.com) for all of your help with this fic! All remaining mistakes are entirely my own.
> 
> The title comes from George Ezra's Song Blame It On Me, the first line comes from [this tumblr prompt meme](https://lululawrence.tumblr.com/post/615403789994852352/50-dialogue-prompts), and everything else in this ridiculous little fic is mine. Please don't share with anyone associated with those depicted in the fic, it is all made up and obviously didn't and won't happen, blah blah blah. 
> 
> Thank you for reading!

“I’m only here to establish an alibi.”

Harry closed the door behind Grimmy, who had already rushed in and headed to the kitchen.

“You do know that Louis’ not here, right?” Harry asked. 

Grimmy didn’t answer, and it was clear why when Harry reached the kitchen. He was standing in front of the freezer, door hanging wide open, as he drank vodka straight from the bottle. 

“Make yourself at home?” Harry offered, kind of. More like questioned. What did he know? It was half eleven on a Friday after a long week of work and his flatmate’s best friend randomly barged in talking about alibis. 

“No, home is where I don’t want to be,” Grimmy said, eyes a bit wild as his long limbs flailed. “Home means I’m alone and right now I need to be with someone who can absolutely vouch for me. So thanks for that, dear Harold. And yes, Louis has fucked off to his dear Doncaster in my hour of need.”

“I can’t tell if you’re being overdramatic or if I should legitimately be concerned,” Harry said. 

“It’s as if you don’t even know me,” Grimmy cried, spilling a bit of the vodka as he left the kitchen to throw himself onto the sofa. 

“I don’t,” Harry said. “Not really. We’ve met twice since I moved here.”

Twice was enough for him to know he’d like  _ so _ much more of Grimmy, but he also had no idea where to start with a man whose presence was so large he easily dominated any room he entered. 

“Oh come on. You just moved to London, what, a week ago?”

“A month,” Harry corrected, pouting.

“Ah, yes. A month. My mistake,” Grimmy said, with a wide smile. “I’m surprised you’re even home. The way Louis talked about you, you’re quite the charmer and incredibly social. I figured you’d have a special someone by now.”

Harry sputtered. “He talked to you about me?”

Grimmy wagged his eyebrows. “Mm. He sure did.”

Harry scrunched his nose and covered his face in shame when he realized exactly  _ what  _ they had talked about. 

“Oh god,” Harry whined. “We were sixteen! He swore he’d never tell anyone!”

“Told his best mate, didn’t he?” Grimmy smirked and glanced down at Harry’s crotch, which was thankfully covered, thanks to his plush lilac dressing gown. “Told me a great many things.”

“What the fuck,” Harry said with a somewhat embarrassed chuckle before going to sit beside Grimmy on the couch. He pulled the dressing gown down as far as it would go, and it still showed a fair amount of thigh. He usually enjoyed showing off some skin, but in the moment he did wish his dressing gown was a bit longer. “Hand over the vodka. I can’t be sober now that I know what kinds of things you’ve heard.”

Grimmy cooed and handed the bottle over. “Just two baby gays, having their first sexual experience together. So sweet.”

Harry’s cheeks absolutely burned with embarrassment. That entire weekend had been such a mess for both of them, but had answered a great many questions and they’d only become closer because of it. Thank goodness. It would have been a shame to have gay exploration between mates be the end of their friendship. 

“Anyway. I’ll be here at least three hours. I can’t be alone before half two.”

Harry choked on his second swig of vodka before giving it back to Grimmy. 

“In the morning?”

Grimmy gave him a strange look. “Yes, in the morning.”

Harry turned and stared at the television. He supposed there wasn’t much else they could do in the moment. He might as well turn it on. 

“Would you like to watch… some footie?” Harry offered awkwardly. 

Harry knew nothing about the sport. In fact, he quite disliked it outside of the very nice shorts those incredibly fit men had to wear. But if Grimmy was Louis’ best mate, he likely loved it so he might as well offer. 

Grimmy gave Harry a tight smile and said, “Yeah, alright.” 

Harry turned on the telly, and only as he perused the channels did he realize he’d suggested football at eleven on a Friday night. 

“Ehm, not sure we’re going to find any, actually,” Harry said, regretfully. 

“Thank fuck,” Nick said, chuckling. “Proper hate football.”

“Oh my god, then why did you agree to it?” Harry asked, laughing loudly. 

“Well I figured if that’s what you were suggesting then that was what you wanted!” Nick cried. “Honestly, Harold, you  _ really _ don’t know me if you thought I like sport.”

“My name’s not Harold, it’s just Harry,” Harry said with a sigh. “Only Louis calls me that and I don’t even know why.”

“Yes, well I had picked up on it, but now that I’m used to you being called that I do quite fancy you being a Harold.”

“Anyway, like I said before, I really don’t know you at all, which was why I assumed you’d like football. You’re friends with Louis, after all,” Harry argued, crossing his arms on his chest and pouting. 

It was far too early in the evening for that kind of behavior, particularly when he was with his flatmate’s incredibly gorgeous and older best friend, but it really had been a long week at work. Harry had been hoping to have a bit of a spa and  _ self care _ night to release all of his tension. Now, with Grimmy sitting right beside him, he was feeling even more tension with several hours left before he’d have any hope of being able to relax.

“Oh my god,” Grimmy said before laughing so hard he leaned forward and almost spilled the vodka. “Yes, apparently if anyone is to be mates with Louis, you must be into football. What the fuck?”

Harry did his best to glare at Grimmy, but his laughter was quite contagious. He couldn’t hold back his smile and some giggles even as he noticed the long line of Grimmy’s throat when he threw his head back. It was quite lovely, the way his jaw was so defined against the gentle slope of his neck to his shoulder. 

Shaking himself out of his stupor before his thoughts could go any further, Harry just sighed. 

“Oh, come on. What were your plans that I’ve just ruined?”

Blushing a little and plucking at the plush lavender of his dressing gown, Harry shrugged. “Was a long week, so I was going to do a face mask. Maybe a foot soak. Paint my nails.”

“Well what’s stopping you?” Grimmy asked, suddenly looking more excited than he had since he had arrived. “If you have enough supplies and don’t mind sharing, I’ll even join you. Didn’t have time for my morning sheet mask, so my skin is proper dying.”

Harry looked at him in surprise. “Yeah?”

“Of course, Harold,” Grimmy said, rolling his eyes. He finally set the vodka down on the coffee table and stood up, holding a hand out to Harry. “We must take care of our skin so you can always look like a baby cherub and the rest of us can do our best to fight off looking like old hags.”

Harry squawked a little before he accepted Grimmy’s help and stood up, making sure his dressing gown was able to keep everything sufficiently covered. “What?”

“Which part of that are you questioning exactly?” 

“I mean… I guess my looking like a baby cherub as well, but mostly the idea that you could ever look like an old hag.”

Grimmy shook his head before Harry finally led him back to the tiny bathroom he and Louis shared.

“You have no idea. I have clearly pulled the wool over you,” he said, starting to pick up all of the facial products Harry had pulled out for the occasion. “I’m the ripe old age of thirty-six! The wrinkles that have started appearing! The tiniest bit of sag to my cheeks! And don’t even get me started on the constant battle against dark circles beneath the eyes.” 

Harry shook his head. “You’re probably the only one noticing them. If you scoot over a bit, I can grab the masking options. I hadn’t gotten everything out before you interrupted.”

Grimmy widened his eyes in what Harry took to be a wordless apology before they had an awkward dance of trying to switch places. The room was about the size of a postage stamp and didn’t leave them much room to move when in there alone, much less when there was company. Grimmy placed his hands on Harry’s shoulders for balance as they brushed past each other and turned, finally breaking apart when Harry was back in front of the sink.

“I was going to do a clay mask, but if you’d prefer I have a gentle chemical peel mask as well as a couple of sheet masks?” Harry said as he did his best to keep his knees together and tug the dressing gown in place so he didn’t show Grimmy anything the man wasn’t ready to see as he dug around beneath the sink. He always felt a proper lady when he was able to pull out that move, and he was glad he was so confident in it as to use it successfully now. 

He might have been confident in keeping himself covered, but he wasn’t as confident with quickly finding his supplies. It was a bit of a mess in these cabinets. Louis had an abundance of products, but he seemed to rotate through them, constantly acquiring bottles of various products from friends and family who visited and never finishing anything. It was amusing to see him discover new favorites as he tried everything left behind before ever offering to return them.

Once Harry found the clay and seaweed mask he had planned on to help him detox physically as well as emotionally, he located and pulled out the basket filled with most of the rest of his skin products for Grimmy to peruse. 

“You have a collection to even rival mine,” Grimmy said, sounding impressed. “You’re quite young for already having this knowledge.”

Harry shrugged and pulled his hair up into a tiny ponytail on his head. “My sister used to force it upon me when we were younger, but I learned I really liked it so we would have movie and mask nights together quite often. What she learned, she passed on.”

When Harry glanced up, he found Grimmy looking at him with a fond smile. “That’s really nice, actually.”

Harry couldn’t help but smile back. “Yeah. It was.”

After that, it was a strange bustle and back and forth as they both did their best to wash their faces and get their respective masks put on while still giving the other his own space as well.

It gave Harry the most lovely domestic feel and he really should  _ not _ be experiencing any of it. From what Louis had said, Grimmy was the type to have a boyfriend for a month, maybe more, and then something would inevitably go wrong and he’d go back to being single for ages before finding the next four-week-boyfriend. With the almost ten years between them, he had no reason to believe that he would be any different and the last thing he wanted was for Grimmy to discard him after a month and make things awkward whilst both tried to remain close with Louis.

“Oh no, some of your hair fell down into the wet mask,” Grimmy tutted after they sat down on the sofa to wait for their masks to dry. “Hang on, let me get a wet flannel.”

Once Grimmy mentioned it, Harry noticed a thick curl of hair out of the corner of his left eye.

“Bollocks,” he sighed. His hair really was such a nuisance sometimes.

“Can’t have your curls going frizzy from the facials,” Grimmy said as he got up close to Harry’s face. 

Harry couldn’t help it, he was getting chills combined with excited bursts of warmth just having Grimmy taking care of him. The feel of him gently working the cloth around his swatch of hair showed a careful and tender side of Grimmy that Harry never would have guessed existed. He was a witty man, full of banter and a sharp sense of humor that truly would make fun of anyone and everyone. He was self deprecating when he felt it would help a situation, and always willing to defer to someone else’s guidance unless he just didn’t want to. Louis’ stories told Harry as much and so had the few times he’d actually been around Grimmy in person.

But this? The tip of Grimmy’s tongue was sticking out just enough for Harry to notice from as he used a pin Harry didn’t even know he had grabbed to hold back the rogue curl.

“There we are. Much better,” Grimmy said, sitting back to look. “Must take care of those curls.”

Harry was insanely glad for the thick gray mud smeared on his face so his ridiculously strong blush couldn’t be seen. “Thank you.”

Grimmy checked his watch before sitting back. “Okay, mine only has another thirteen minutes. How about yours?”

“Ehm…” Harry pulled his phone out of his dressing gown pocket. “Yeah, same.”

“Going to have to shuffle use of the sink again, hmm?” Grimmy waggled his eyebrows, and considering he was sitting there with one of Louis’ old headbands and a white clarifying mask on, he really shouldn’t look attractive. But he somehow still was.

“I guess so,” Harry said, trying not to sound as breathless as he felt.

“Well, not sure I’m up for a foot soak but shall we pick out the varnish colors so we can get started on that once we’ve got our faces taken care of?”

Harry chuckled. “You’ve done all of this before, haven’t you?”

Grimmy shrugged. “Yeah. Most of my boyfriends were never up for it, but that’s what my girls are for. I’m bound to find at least one willing at the drop of a hat to have a girl’s night in.”

Their chatter went quiet for the first time since Harry had been fruitlessly searching for football, and Harry remembered Grimmy had suggested they choose nail varnish colors.

“Oh, right,” Harry said jumping to his feet. “Let me just grab my nail kit.”

He rushed to his bedroom and leaned over to dig his manicure kit where he had it tucked behind the miniature shelves of varnish. He was grateful that Grimmy remained in the other room, because there really was no way to keep the dressing gown from riding up if he had any chance of getting what he was looking for.

“Harold, I didn’t realize!”

Harry straightened up too fast, banging his head on a shelf and knocking some of the varnish bottles onto the floor.

“Shit, sorry,” Grimmy said as he rushed over and started gently rubbing Harry’s head. “I was just trying to be playful. The knickers are such a pretty color and really do look lovely on you.”

Harry froze, his eyes wide. Glancing at Grimmy to see if he was serious, he quickly closed his eyes when their eyes met.

“I didn’t think anyone would see them,” he admitted quietly.

“Well that’s a shame,” Grimmy answered, just as quiet. “With legs like yours and lace like that, they are certainly meant to be seen.”

Harry swallowed harshly before slowly opening his eyes. 

“There you are, pet,” Grimmy said with a smile. 

Harry studied his face, unsure what to say now. Would you like to look at all my nail varnish? Is it time to wash off our masks yet? Would you like to see the rest of the panties on me and maybe tell me I’m pretty? Fuck, he was not going to survive this night.

“You alright?” Grimmy asked.

Harry slowly nodded his head, not breaking eye contact. 

Grimmy studied his face a bit more before tilting his head. “Would you like me to pretend this didn’t happen and I never saw your knickers?”

This was it. Harry could take a chance, be brave, and tell him the truth, or he could be a coward. He could easily nod his head yes, and Grimmy would act, at least for tonight, like he’d not seen Harry bent over, arse in the air with the black lace covering the bare minimum of his cheeks. He really didn’t want to, though.

So he didn’t. 

Taking a deep breath, Harry shook his head no and waited for Grimmy’s response.

The corners of Grimmy’s mouth tilted up, his cheeks becoming waves due to the thick white mask that had dried. 

“Really?” he asked, sounding surprised.

“Yeah,” Harry said before sighing. “I mean, if you’re alright with that.”

Grimmy chuckled a bit. “More than, young Harold. Wouldn’t mind seeing the rest and maybe even touching, if you aren’t averse. Would be quite the way to spend the evening and establish an alibi.”

Harry blushed again and turned away, pretending like he was checking the time. It really was time for them to wash off their masks, probably. He didn’t even know or care, anymore. He’d just embarrassed himself fully in front of this gorgeous man who of course didn’t want him for more than a night. To establish an alibi. Harry was ridiculous.

Clearing his throat, Harry said, “We should wash the masks off now. Then we can do the nail varnish.”

“Hey,” Grimmy said, reaching out and grabbing Harry’s arm so he couldn’t rush off to the bathroom yet. 

Harry stopped, waiting for what Grimmy was going to say, but didn’t look back at him because honestly he was trying not to cry. He was too fucking tired for this shit.

“Love, can you look at me?”

Harry took a few breaths, but didn’t answer and didn’t turn to Grimmy, so instead Grimmy moved to stand in front of him.

“What’s wrong? What did I say that upset you?”

“Nothing,” Harry said, trying to sound chipper. He failed.

Grimmy tried to arch his brow, but all it did was make his forehead look strange as the mask cracked and rippled a bit. “That’s a lie.”

Sighing, Harry shook his head. “No, really. I just was being stupid and thought…” Harry bit his lip and folded his arms. “It doesn’t matter what I thought. It’s fine.”

“It does matter, though. Consent, for one thing,” Grimmy said, putting his hands on his hips. “I don’t want to be taking advantage of someone who doesn’t actually want what is being offered. I’m not that kind of girl.”

Harry widened his eyes. “No, I didn’t…  _ no,”  _ he said emphatically. He could not have Grimmy thinking Harry didn’t want him or would think he was the type to force himself upon someone. Both thoughts made him feel sick. “You wouldn’t be taking advantage. Promise. More like…” Harry closed his eyes for strength to just say it. “More like I thought that maybe it could be more than just tonight.”

Silence. Great. Obviously Grimmy hadn’t even begun to think of him like that, which was fine! It really was. Harry would just have to deal with his embarrassment for another hour and fifty-two minutes or however much longer it would be before Grimmy decided his alibi had been established and he could leave. Harry would likely be able to hide anytime there was a social gathering where Grimmy would be present so he wouldn’t have to rethink it all and—

Harry spiraling thoughts crashed into each other, stopping the rapid downward trajectory, because without any warning there were lips against his and hands in his hair.

He was shocked, and it took him a moment to realize what was happening, but he very quickly got on board and reciprocated. Even so, his face really did hurt with the dry mask cracking from their movements and he was actually grateful when Grimmy pulled back.

“Fuck, that actually quite hurt,” Grimmy whined, gingerly touching his cheek. “Shall we wash these off and get moisturized, then maybe we can forget the nail varnish and get back to that?”

Harry blinked at Grimmy, a bit lost as to what it all meant. Grimmy’s hands were still on him, one gently caressing his neck, and he hadn’t pulled from Harry’s personal space at all. But he hadn’t said anything after Harry had admitted that he’d wanted more than just a one night stand as well, he’d just kissed him. That all meant that he might agree, right?

“Harry, pet, I’d really rather this not be just one night either. I thought that if you could possibly be persuaded to have me and my old self, it could only ever be for a night.”

“What? Why?” Harry asked, quite lost, now. But as Grimmy hadn’t let go of him, he hoped it was alright for him to reach out and touch as well. He placed his hands tentatively on Grimmy’s hips, which made him smile a bit before speaking.

“Because I’m just an old man who’s best friends with your flatmate. As you’ve told me several times already tonight, you hardly know me. I thought that was probably because you didn’t care to and I had no chance.”

Harry shook his head. “No. I mean, yes! I mean… of course you had a chance.”

Grimmy smirked a little before wincing. “We really need to get these damn masks off. Who thought this was a good idea again?”

Harry rolled his eyes. “You. Well, you’re the one who wanted to join me. But yeah, let’s do.”

“Then we can get to the fun part of the evening,” Grimmy sang to his own little tune.

“Heyyyyy, hasn’t this been fun already?” Harry asked, peeking over his shoulder. 

Grimmy was blatantly staring at his thighs. “Mmm, indeed it has.”

As Harry and Grimmy stood shoulder to shoulder in the bathroom scrubbing at their faces, Harry decided to try one more time.

“Are you going to ever tell me why you are in such desperate need of an alibi?” Harry asked, glancing at Grimmy’s reflection.

Grimmy paused, then looked guiltily at Harry. “You’re going to be angry.”

“What?” Harry turned to Grimmy to look at the man instead of the reflection. “Why?”

Sighing, Grimmy winced and turned his ridiculously half-masked face to Harry. “Because I really did need an alibi. I wasn’t in the mood to go out and get entirely wasted, I’m getting too old to do that every weekend, you know? But I kind of didn’t tell Pixie I wasn’t coming until the very last minute and I told her I had plans, but she called my bluff! She threatened me that if she stopped by my place and I was at home with the dogs sleeping, that she’d tell Alexa I had lied.”

Harry laughed. “That’s it? That was what had you all wildly distraught? You really are a drama queen.”

“You have never seen Alexa angry,” Grimmy said, eyes wide as he rinsed his cloth. “It’s proper scary and I’ve been on her shit list before. I’d rather not be on it again, thank you very much.”

Harry chuckled a bit more, and went back to work on his own mask.

The rest of the night was even better than what Harry had allowed himself to imagine, and Grimmy definitely stayed for longer than three hours. He stayed three days and was still asleep, curled up around Harry, when Louis returned.

It was fine...or at least it was once Louis stopped crowing about how he knew they’d end up together. They also had to work through a slight bump when Harry learned that Grimmy had made such a big deal about needing an alibi just because Pixie had threatened to tell Aimee that Grimmy had bailed on a party just to stay home. 

He also might have given more details than they wanted their parents to ever know at their wedding a few years later, but such was the right of their shared best man. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! I would greatly appreciate you leaving a kudos, a nice comment, or even giving the [fic post](https://lululawrence.tumblr.com/post/633871354392920064/what-you-waiting-for-by-lululawrence-nick) a reblog. Thanks again!


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